What To Do To Be Prepared For A Hurricane

So a hurricane is coming what do you do?

Best Emergency before & after tips Ever!

First hand experience from someone who has been through one:

Food and Water:

• You need about a gallon of water per person per day. Figure you're on your own for at least three days before the Salvation Army, FEMA, Red Cross and/or National Guard gets there. So fill up what ever containers you have or can buy. Don't forget your critters.
• Your FRIDGE.  Fill every available space with jugs of water to freeze (the bigger the  better).  They will freeze and your freezer will stay cold for days. Remove a couple to put in your fridge,  Just like a cooler!
• Do you have a manual can opener? You'll need one.
• Use up your refrigerated food first. Cook the meat and eat the dairy within the first couple of days on the grill. There is no saving it without power.
• Do you have enough propane and/or charcoal to fuel the barbecue?
• Canned food is fine. Packaged tuna, canned spaghetti, peanut butter and crackers, peanut butter and jelly, etc

Technology:

• Even if cell phones are mainly down or the circuits are busy, text messages can get through. 
• Cash is king when there's no power. Debit and credit cards don't work without power.
• Charge Everything! Have a chargers and surge protectors 

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  If you are on a wooded lot, check your chain saw. Do you have bar oil? What about treated gas? Gas that's been sitting, particularly with the ethanol levels, makes for crappy two-stroke fuel. Check that what you have is OK and works.
• Fill up your fuel tanks and extra gas tanks now. Again, without power, the gas pumps don't work.
• When cooking with the grill, use it away from the house. Make sure a flare-up can't catch the soffitt on fire. Don't grill in the garage.
• Do you have a car charger for your phone? Now would be a good time to make sure it works 
• Make certain you have at least one long (50 foot) heavy duty extension cord. 
• Batteries for everything. You need batteries for flashlights and everyone in the family should have their own flashlight.

Medical:

Dollar Store Solar Lamp

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  Medications should be refilled early.
• If you need meds refrigerated, call/visit the closest fire department. Explain the issue. They may know of a service within your town that offers ice for medical reasons after the storm arrives.
• If you have a spare tub, fill that with water to flush the toilet. Though if the water levels get too high, the septic systems may not work. If the water gets really high, the sewer systems won't work. If the power is out long enough, the lift stations for the sewers won't work.
• If there is someone in the house with medical issues that must have power, call the local Red Cross. There will be a medical shelter that will have back up power. Make sure you have a spot there.

Make an House BOOK

Your Safety:

• If you're being told to evacuate, get out. 
• If you need to evacuate, where are you going to go? Does everyone in your family know? Even the ones not in the area? 
• Pack a readiness bag, clothing, meds, toiletries etc.
• Locate your valuables and store them someplace safe
• Every person in the family should have the phone numbers and addresses of family written down. Everything is in our phones, but when that battery dies, you can't access those phone numbers. Make a Friends and Family Book!
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  If you are even  near this storm and you're near a body of water or the coast, do you know at least two ways to leave your neighborhood? Plan it out. Write it down. If things get hairy, your mind may not be working all that clearly and things you thought you'd never forget, you don't know.
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  Before: Locate your paperwork for all your insurance policies.Make a House Book! Home, renters, car, business. If your house is damaged, the paperwork may not be available or may have been destroyed. 
• Contact family/friends/redditors out of the storm area now so you have one spot to call if your family becomes separated.
• Collect the phone numbers of the power, phone and cable companies. If there is an issue like a downed wire, or junction box destroyed by a fallen tree, they want to know.

Your Home and Car:

• Have some solar light! (the garden kind will do, too)
• Have gas in your car and a car charger.
• Have  generator handy if you can
• Rake the yard now. With the amount of rain expected, you need the drains open and running freely. A drain clogged with leaves does not flow and all the water may end up in your basement.
• Buy a tarps and plastic. I get the medium and about a 10 mil just to protect the roof if  I've got a tree down. If you don't need them, you can always return them.
• Secret everything.  Clean the yard.  Make sure you put away anything that can fly away or into a neighbors home
• After the storm is over, don't go sloshing through the puddles. Power lines will be down all over the place and that water may be hiding that live wire.
• Have books and activities available for entertainment - you will need it if the power goes out. Particularly if you have kids.
• If something should happen here are best hints ever for before and after a disaster and how to deal with it! Best Emergency Tips Before and After Any Home Disaster
• Lastly:  Check out Our Emergency and Disaster Board on Pinterest-chock full of information, tips and tricks  and infographics to help you with any emergency.